An oil company distributes oil in a metal can shaped like a cylinder that has an actual radius of 5.1cm and a height of 15.1cm. A worker incorrectly measured the radius as 5cm and the height as 15cm. Determine the relative error in calculating the surface area, to the nearest thousandth.

Question

anonymous · Answer

What have you tried so far?

agreene · Answer

So, Surface Area of a Cylinder is: $$2\pi r^{2} + 2\pi rh$$ where r is your radius and h is the height. From there we can plug in both sets of information. 
"Actual" measurements will lead you to: 647.294
"False" measurements will lead you to: 628.319
The error would be the difference, so: 647.294-628.319= 18.97 cm.

anonymous · Answer

That's the absolute error.  They want the relative error.